InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ The Bond Between Us ( Chapter 60 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter 60: The Bond Between Us

Everyone in Kaede's village breathed a sigh of relief as whatever force had been pulling the very earth apart calmed, all tremors stopping and, for those who could feel it, all power returning whence it had come.

Kaede cast a worried glance at Miroku, however, concerned; what could have caused such a near disaster?

No one had the chance to move or even speak, though, before a heavy beat pulsed through the air, and just at the head of the village, a shimmering could be made out as a small tornado seemed to wrap around that space. When it cleared, a strange being stood there, and Miroku and Kaede once more exchanged concerned glances...

And then they heard the shrillest hanyou screech they ever had, no matter the circumstances.

Inuyasha had been close to the other side of the village when he'd felt a presence like he'd never felt except when Sesshoumaru let his youki loose - only, this wasn't his brother, though it seemed similar. But the moment he caught sight of the being, his eyes almost fell out of his head, and he couldn't help the high-pitched yell that broke free from his chest.

"Oi! Who the hell are you takin' on my dead father's form like that?!" he screamed, dashing towards the person at top speed, ready to dismember the one who would dare. He knew what his father looked like - after all, when they'd succeeded in sending Sou'unga to hell, he and his brother, Sugimi no Taisho had appeared to them all to congratulate them on doing so - sort of.

Sugimi's brow rose as he watched his son dash at him, looking ready to claw his eyes out, and waited... then at the perfect moment, he stuck his foot out and tripped his headstrong pup, watching with laughter in his eyes as he fell headlong, landing face-first in the dirt.

Eyebrow cocked, he said, "And hello to you, too, Inuyasha. Is this how you greet everyone? I must admit, it does breed goodwill... making people laugh is a fine way to gain allies rather than enemies. I certainly want to stick around - if only to see you do more funny things."

Hopping mad, Inuyasha popped up from the ground swiping the dirt off his face and scowling hard enough to scare the kami. "You... you..." he panted incoherently, ignoring his friends as they all came trotting up beside him, Miroku, Kaede, and Sango staring with great interest at the youkai Inuyasha looked so much like.

"So eloquent, pup!" Sugimi chortled and reached around, patting his son on the back - hard. "Take a deep breath, and untie your tongue, boy - then try again."

Inuyasha bit back the curse at the tip of his tongue, huffing irritatedly. "I was gonna deny your claim, but you take as much joy out of taunting me as that bastard Sesshoumaru does - so you must be who you claim to be," he snapped sourly. "That doesn't say what you're doing here - you're supposed to happily dead back on the other side." He looked around, eyes narrowed. "Where's the Ice prick and Kagome, anyway?"

Sugimi shook his head and sighed. "You're brother-" here he reached over and popped his son on the back of his head, "-who you shouldn't be calling names, by the way, lost his mind for a little while, so Amaterasu kami-sama sent me to take his place until Kagome can get him straightened out."

The group collectively frowned. Sesshoumaru losing his mind? Something didn't set right.

Inuyasha vocalized that with a course laugh after glaring at his father, then asked, "What could have the power to send that-" he mumbled something after a sharp glance from Sugimi, "-off the deep end? I've been lookin' for something that could do that for years."

Expression sobering, Sugimi narrowed his eyes on his youngest son. "The loss of his mate and the near severence of his bond with her, that's what, pup - and it's no laughing matter." He took in the shocked gasps from the people surrounding him, including Inuyasha's.

Sango, who'd stayed back a bit, stepped forward at that, fear for Kagome whirling through her. "Kagome... she's okay, isn't she? I mean, she's a kami, what could hurt her... right?"

The daiyoukai studied her for a moment, and then nodded. "She is, however, she is caught in a trap at this moment, and it will take some time for her to figure her way out of it. Because of that, Amaterasu-kami decided to render Sesshoumaru unconscious so that he wouldn't descend into total madness. In the meantime, I'm here to take over as General until Sesshoumaru and Kagome can return. Once the battle is over, I will go back to the other side."

Inuyasha swallowed hard as he thought about his father's words. Much as he'd fought with his brother, and been hurt and angry that Kagome had chosen him, still - he couldn't even imagine the pain and anguish at an interrupted mate bond. Shaking his head, his voice much calmer, he asked, "So... what are the plans, then?"

Sugimi sighed. "Why don't we all adjourn to someplace a little more comfortable - and private - and you can explain to me exactly what the plans are at this time. We can go from there."

Kaede nodded, meeting the great Dog General's eye, she gestured for them all to follow her. "Come. We will go to my hut - it is as quiet as ye will find around here at this time," she said wryly as the group began to trudge after her. "This war is taking a toll on privacy, I fear - it is a commodity in short supply."

The group all nodded grimly at her words.

-cCc-

Kagome glared, inwardly, of course, since the maelstrom of energy around her was so blindingly bright, she didn't want to open her eyes. This whole thing was pissing her off to no end.

Here she was, trapped hundreds of years away from her mate, while he was unconscious because he'd gone off the deep end the minute she disappeared. And could she go to him? No - because Sosa had stuck her here in this mess of energy and time.

What was a young goddess to do? She didn't want to waste her time figuring out this stupid trap - she wanted to go to her mate. She felt scared, and sad, and upset without him, and she didn't like feeling that way. Sosa was so going to be in for it when she managed to finally confront him... with an irate sigh, she clenched her eyes shut tighter and screamed - though she couldn't hear it over the awful noise of the trap she was in.

"GRRR! That is it! Shut up!" she shouted, and the noise level dropped almost immediately, leaving her ears ringing in the sudden, blessed silence. "Well, at least now I can hear myself think," she sighed with relief. "What a mess. Why does all this exciting stuff always have to happen to me? Whoever came up with that old chinese curse, 'May you live in interesting times', should be shot."

It was interesting to note, however, that as soon as she'd ordered it to get quiet, it had, though she didn't think escaping the trap was going to be quite so easy. No... there was something else that she'd have to do.

I really, really hate puzzles, she groused to herself. I don't want to waste time messing with this, I want to go to Sesshoumaru. I need to see him to make sure he's alright.

But... maybe I can do both? After all, I am supposed to be a goddess. Why can't I multitask? Hmm... She pondered on that for a few minutes, and then nodded once to herself, sharply. I can do this...

Separating her mind into two parts, she set the one side to considering the trap she was in, and how to get out of it, and the other part of her mind began to sink itself into the bond with her mate. Unconscious or not, she would find a way to interact with him, even while he was in his unaware state.

She needed his presence, his touch within herself to maintain her own sanity, just as much as he needed her.

It was a two-way street.

Slowly, easily, she bled her consciousness into the bond, and followed it into her mate's sleeping mind. It was then that she realized that, though Amaterasu had put him to sleep, he was still lost in madness, just stuck inside his own mind with no way to influence the outside world.

What he was, was trapped inside a nightmare where she was gone, and he was still trying to find her, and grieving that she was forever gone at the same time.

It broke her heart to see him, to feel the great youkai he was, lost in so much anguish. Really, he was so good at hiding his emotions, that sometimes it was still hard to acknowledge that he even had them. But from the inside, there was no way to deny that he was just as much an emotional being as the next.

He simply hid it, allowing no one to see the real Sesshoumaru. The Sesshoumaru that had as many hopes, dreams, and fears, as the next person.

The Sesshoumaru that loved his mate with all the passion of a long-lived youkai soul.

Kagome melted all over at being privy to the full strength of his feelings, her own heart taking a beating at feeling his pain at losing his mate, especially so soon after the bond had been formed. He had wanted her for so long, and waited, never knowing if he would ever have her, and then, finally, finally, he had gained his heart's desire... only to lose her - or so he thought.

Feeling her own emotions rising to meet the strength of his howling, maddened, grief, Kagome threw every bit of her available power and love into the bond, flooding his mind and soul with every evidence of her continued existence, forcing the madness within him to retreat inch by inch until she could claim his attention.

And then, she created a world for them both within his mind.

She used a familiar template - the world he had taken her to during their journeys that had made her think of how the earth had looked so long ago when it was still pristine. It was a place she knew he would remember.

Once it was done, she called his attention to her.

Wounded, limping, pain curling around his spirit like a living thing, Sesshoumaru responded to her, following her presence into the place she had made for them – the place that would protect him until she could return to him physically.

She wrapped her own spirit around him, then, and began to soothe the psychic pain that had been thrust into his mind from the near-severing of their bond.

Rocking back and forth, she held him to her, and crooned to him comfortingly. “Come back to me, Sesshoumaru,” she whispered. “I'm still here, I'm not gone. Feel me, and let go of your grief, Lord of the West. It isn't necessary.”

It would take time to heal the wounds to their shared psyche, but she had plenty of that, and she was determined to bring his mind back from the edge of destruction...

And make Sosa pay for flinging him there in the first place.

-cCc-

Sugimi woke the morning after returning to the world of the living, and stretched, his senses singing with the life all around him. It was so different to the other realms in so many ways, and he knew it would take a little bit of adjustment to become used to it once again.

He stared out over the lands, thinking on everything he'd learned the day before. He had to say he was impressed with his son's prowess as the leader of this rather impromptu army. The battle plans were solid, and needed no changing. All that was left was to meet with the leaders of the various parts of the army, and let them know that he would be leading for now, until Kagome and Sesshoumaru returned.

It had already been agreed between he and the close-knit group of his younger son that the true reasons behind their absence would not be told; it would simply be stated that they were gathering information on their enemies.

His thoughts then turned to his youngest pup with an inward sigh. Brash, loud, and seemingly simple-minded, the boy was much more complex than he let on. It would take much time to learn who he was – time he would not be allowed.

This, then, was the price of following the will of the kami – a yearning for things he could not have.

Perverse as it was, the kami always exacted a price when they intervened in something – whether you followed their will, or did not. The only difference was that if you chose not to follow the will of the kami, the price was much steeper. That was why the wise kept out of the way of the gods, and avoided contact if at all possible.

However, sometimes, one had no choice, and if you wanted to pay the lesser price, you would do as the kami ordered.

His mind drifted at that point to his elder son's mate, and he wondered; would Kagome become a true kami, forcing those she aided, even in her own schemes, to pay a blood price for her aid? For even when it was the gods that requested something of you for their own plans, they would still take your blood.

Somehow, he couldn't see Kagome doing the same.

Before he could get too deeply into his ruminations, he felt an aura swell over his that he hadn't had to deal with in several hundred years, and groaned inwardly, though he let nothing show on the outside. Keeping his expression straight, he didn't turn to greet the newcomer, forcing her to come to him.

“It is certain that it is too early in the morning to deal with your complicated nature, Satori.”

Satori glared at the father of her only son, infuriated that he wouldn't turn and acknowledge her. He had never allowed her to gain the upper hand in any confrontation – and there had been many between the two of them.

She narrowed her eyes and moved forward, refusing to let on that it was in any way demeaning to her that he kept his back to her.

“The world had thought you dead, Sugimi,” she said lightly, “though it appears we were wrong. How came you here?” She glanced around curiously. “And where is your little human? Was she perhaps left behind in the lands of the dead?”

Damn. The bitch was going to cause trouble – he just knew it. “Where my mate is is none of your concern, Satori. I am here at the directive of the kami, to take over as General until Sesshoumaru and his mate return from their journey.”

Cocking a mocking brow, Satori chuckled. “Ah, so our son has taken it into his head to disappear during such a time, has he? It is no doubt the influence of that ningen he has mated. Like father, like son, they say. Perhaps I would have been better served had he been a daughter, instead.”

“A daughter would have been acceptable, as long as she was nothing like you,” he said bluntly. “Whether male or female, Sesshoumaru would never have bowed to one such as you.” He finally turned to look at her. “As I will not. Do not attempt your machinations and schemes with me, Satori, I have no patience for them, nor time. Once this war is over, I return to the other realms,” he growled.

Holding her gaze with every appearance of threat, he let her read his total lack of patience for her meddling, then turned away once more.

“If you cause no trouble, you will be allowed to remain, and take part in this battle. If you attempt anything, I will destroy you myself. Is that clear?”

Satori glared at him, then turned and walked away. Pausing in her step for a moment, she hissed, “You are as abrasive as you always were, Lord Taisho, and I am glad that you will not remain on this plane of existence after the war.”

He huffed, almost amused at her words. “I almost hope you live forever, wench, so that I will not have to meet you again on the other side.” With that, he went back to his thoughts, ignoring her.

Mortally offended, but unable to do anything about it, the inu female took flight, headed for her stronghold.

General you may be, but I will not be barred from this battle, Sugimi no Taisho – not by you, or anyone else!

-cCc-

Nyoko stared, fascinated, at Sugimi, and shook her head. It was him, all right, no disputing that. She certainly had never expected to see him again, but now that she had...

“Well, if it isn't the big dog! Never thought I'd see you again,” she chortled, absolutely loving the look on his face. “What? Didn't you miss me, Sugimi-sama? I sure missed you!” A mischievous look crossed her face, and she smirked. “Not as much as I missed Sesshoumaru, though, I have to admit. He's so much fun to harass – not that I'll get much of a chance, now that he's got a mate to do it.”

Sugimi sighed and eyed his son dubiously. “Did you really have to choose her, Inuyasha? Couldn't you find a less contentious female?”

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at his father, tossing him a suspicious look. “How do you know who I'm courting?” he snapped.

His father laughed. “As if you hadn't scented her so much that a human could smell it a mile away. Leave it to us inu to be so possessive,” he chuckled. “I did much the same to your mother – and I'm sure you could smell how much your brother layered his scent over Kagome.”

Inuyasha snarled, annoyed at the reminder. “Keh. Kagome used to smell good, but now she just stinks of bastard.”

Nyoko reached over and clobbered him over the head as Sango snickered and Miroku beamed innocently, eyeing hiraikotsu and its distance from his head as Inuyasha turned and glared at the sorceress.

“Oi! You shouldn't be doin' that shit to me, woman! What the hell?!” he shouted, rubbing a hand over the lump on his head.

She looked him over calmly. “Then be nice, Inuyasha. Kagome does not stink. Actually, I find it quite amusing, as much as you two have fought over the years, and both insisting that the other stinks, yet you both actually smell a great deal alike.”

Inuyasha looked horrified as everyone else laughed. “I don't stink like that bastard! And how the hell would you know, anyway, with your weak human nose?”

“Human I may be, but contrary to popular demon opinion, we humans do have noses, and we can smell things. I've been close enough to the both of you over the years, to know what you smell like,” she stated, smiling blandly.

Sugimi shook his head, laughter clear in his eyes as he stared at his son. “She's right, Inuyasha. You both scent very closely of me. There are differences, of course, but they are minor.”

Nyoko spoke up before Inuyasha could come up with a rejoinder, turning a clearly dangerous, smiling gaze on the Inu no Taisho. “Now... I think we need to go back a few minutes and deal with your assertion to Inuyasha about my contentious nature, and your wish for him to find someone else to court.” Stepping closer, she smirked as his face sobered and he stepped back. “Nervous?” she asked archly.

“Now, Nyoko, you know I was only kidding! I was always fond of you,” he spat out, stepping back and eyeing her with concern.

She murmured a few words, and as her right hand began to glow, Sugimi almost yelped, then took off, getting as far away from her as he could, leaving behind a startled son, and a group of people that almost keeled over from laughter.

He remembered that glow... and the horrible discomfort it had left him with for an entire day.

It didn't pay to annoy Nyoko – as he was sure his son would find out, sooner or later.

Better Inuyasha than him.

-cCc-

A/N: And there's the next chapter. The following chapter will have an interesting meeting between Touran and her panthers, and Sugimi... along with the lead up to battle, and more of Kagome's struggle to figure out her trap.

Amber